If you think you haven’t had cannabinoids because you’ve never used cannabis, you are completely mistaken. You may not have ‘touched’ plant-derived cannabinoids (phytocannabinoids), but it would have been biologically impossible to escape the ones produced by your body (endocannabinoids). Endocannabinoids play an essential mediating role in a number of human physiologic systems. They promote a Goldilocks internal environment, a mean between excess and deficiency in a variety of functions and areas, and recent scholarship has shown that their production is enhanced and fostered by fatty acids, the kind used by Algae Dynamics Corp. (OTCQB: ADYNF). As a result, ADYNF has begun to develop fortified formulas of omega-3s and cannabis oil that may boost the functioning of the human endocannabinoid system.

Discovery of what is now known as the endocannabinoid system has a peculiar history. It is perhaps the only known human physiologic system that is named after a plant, and that’s all because of chronology. A number of substances isolated from the cannabis plant were later found to be produced by the human body. First identification and isolation of the two major cannabinoids, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), is attributed to Raphael Mechoulam and his colleague Y. Gaoni in Israel in 1964. Mechoulam, whose discovery and further research into cannabis has earned him the moniker, ‘Father of Cannabis’, was also part of a team that, in 1992, discovered the endocannabinoid system.

This physiologic system plays a vital role in maintaining human health. Endocannabinoids and their receptors permeate the human body. They can be found in the brain, in various organs, in connective tissue, in glands and in immune cells. Their main function appears to be stabilizing our internal environment, freeing it from the dangerous volatility of the external world. Currently, the two best understood endocannabinoids are anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), studies of which have uncovered a number of medical benefits they may have. Anandamide, for example, inhibits the proliferation of breast cancer cells and appears to retard the memory decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease. These encouraging findings suggest that phytocannabinoids offer a ‘natural’ way to treat a variety of ailments, including multiple sclerosis (MS), arthritis, hypertension, memory loss, pediatric epilepsy and neuropathic pain.

Research into cannabis and development of therapeutic products goes on. In Canada, as legalization looms, industry professionals are divided on whether there should be a legal distinction between medical and recreational cannabis. A recent article on CBC News Health reports comments by two researchers, who believe that medicinal and recreational cannabis should be separate (http://nnw.fm/2OzjU). They argue that a dual-stream approach would decrease the stigma associated with cannabis use for medicinal purposes, since, for example, it would be sold at a pharmacy rather than a general retailer. Dual-stream would also protect ‘the supply of strains of medical cannabis that have desirable effects for patients, such as lower THC strains sometimes used to treat children who suffer from seizures’ and also increase clinical research into the therapeutic benefits of cannabis.

The products under development by Algae Dynamics promise to pack a powerful therapeutic punch, combining the virtues of omega-3s and cannabinoids. Algae Dynamics’ algae oil is high in omega-3s DHA/DPA, which is in demand by the growing multi-billion dollar food and beverage and health care sectors. The North American omega-3 market was estimated to be $4.0 billion in 2013 and is expected to reach $5.9 billion by 2019, growing at a CAGR of 6.5% from 2014 to 2019. Supplements are the largest application segment driving North America’s omega-3 market, and the cannabinoid market is just as vibrant. It is expected to cross $2 billion in consumer sales by 2020. It seems no matter which market Algae Dynamics chooses for its products, success is almost guaranteed.

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